Food industry leaders to gather for talks on next millennium

March 19, 1998

KALAMAZOO -- Food industry executives from around the Midwest
will gather at Western Michigan University Monday and Tuesday,
March 30-31, to hear what's in store for food retailers in the
next century.

"Preparing for the New Millennium" is the title of
the 33rd annual Food Marketing Conference at the Bernhard Center
on the WMU campus. The event will feature speakers who are leaders
in such industry powerhouses as Gerber Products Co., Wal-Mart
Super Centers and American Stores Inc.

Some 500 to 600 retail food executives from firms across the
Midwest are expected to attend the event and interact with leaders
at the highest levels of their industry.

The conference will open with a reception and dinner program
beginning at 5 p.m. Monday. After a full day of presentations
and panel discussions on Tuesday, the conference will conclude
at 3:30 p.m.

This year's four featured speakers will include Al Piergallini,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gerber Products
Co. of Fremont, Mich. He will deliver the opening address, "Help
Wanted: Better Public Understanding for the New Millennium,"
at 8 p.m. Monday.

Victor L. Lund, chairman and chief executive officer of American
Stores Inc., based in based in Salt Lake City, will speak at 8:15
a.m. Tuesday, focusing on the "Competitive Retail Environment."
Mark Nichols, president and chief executive officer of Ralph Nichols
Co. Dale Carnegie Training of Farmington Hills, Mich., will follow
with a 9 a.m. examination of "Putting Balance in Our Lives."

The conference's closing speaker will be Nick White, executive
vice president of Wal-Mart Super Centers of Bentonville, Ark.
He will speak at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to describe
the nation's evolving retail marketplace.

Also on Tuesday, a series of eight workshops and speakers will
focus on issues of concern to the industry. Those topics will
range from store designs of the future and generational marketing
to using the World Wide Web for marketing and ensuring a quality
work force.

"The retail food business is facing challenges on many
fronts," says Dr. Frank M. Gambino, associate professor of
marketing and adviser to WMU's Food Marketing Program. "Mass
merchandisers like Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target have all ventured
into the food store business. Consumers' busy lifestyles have
caused them to eat out more. Restaurants, fast food and even the
Internet have become alternatives to shopping in supermarkets.
This conference will provide some insight for retailers, manufacturers,
distributors and brokers to better understand what the food industry
might be like as we enter the new millennium,"

A popular annual feature of the conference is an executive
roundtable, which this year will cover such topics as mergers
and acquisitions and international marketing opportunities. Addressing
those issues will be: Greg P. Josefowicz, executive vice president
and general manager of Jewel-Osco Stores of Melrose Park, Ill.;
Robert F. McCarthy Jr., president and chief executive officer
of PMI Food Brokers of Lombard, Ill.; Marnette Perry, president
of Kroger of Michigan, based in Livonia, Mich.; and Jonathan D.
Wilson, executive vice president of the Kellogg Co. of Battle
Creek, Mich. The panel will be moderated by Ted File, senior vice
president of Information Resources Inc. of Chicago.

A special feature of this year's conference will be an award
ceremony honoring Chicago area food retail executive Edward F.
Buron, who is the 1998 recipient of the Adrian Trimpe Distinguished
Service Award. Buron is senior vice president of human resources
for Jewel-Osco Stores. (See related story in this packet.)

The annual food marketing conference is sponsored by WMU's
Food Marketing Program in the Haworth College of Business and
by Sigma Phi Omega, a professional business fraternity. The cost
of attending the conference for both days is $250. Single day
registrations also are available at reduced prices. Reservations
may be made by calling (616) 387-2132 or by faxing them to (616)
387-5710. For more information about the event, persons may call
Gambino at (616) 387-6119.